It took too many years for me to visit Estonia even it was marked on the world map at 1154 of the Arab cartographer al-Idrisi. By when I first time step on Tallinn harbou. it was 2002..wow what a city. Not like I was image.
Location: Tallinn is (recent historical name: Reval) is the capital city and main seaport of Estonia. It is located on Estonia's north coast to the Gulf of Finland, 80 kilometres south of Helsinki, where I took my ferry and after few hours I was in Tallinn. At summer there is fast ferry's going between Helsinki and Tallinn and travel takes only bit less than 2 hrs. Ferry operators, Viking Line, Silja Line, Linda Line Express, Tallink, Eckerö Line and Nordic Jet Line, connect to Tallinn. I have use Silja Line, Viking Line and Eckero Line. And always bought ferry tickets from local travel agent or straight from ferry company. And the fares are reasonably priced. I think my lates ticket was only 50€ (return ticket) and you can get ticket cheaper than that as well.
People: At last year there was only little bit over 300 000 living in Tallinn area. Half of peoples are estonians, less than 40 % russians (after all Estonia used to be part of Russian), and about 4 % are Ukrainians. Tallinn is also big university city
Language: In addition to the native Estonian language (which is of the Finno-Ugric group, closely related to the Finnish language), Finnish, Russian and English are widely understood in Tallinn. For me "eesti-keel" estonia language is always been such a laugh, because is quite similar than finnish, but same words got different meaning. For excample finnish word meaning marrage is "marrage problem" (Naimapulma) in estonian language. But Im sure Estonian people wound my language funny as well.
Travelling to city and in city: Tallinn city operates an extensive system of bus, tram and trolley-bus routes to all districts. Fares are very cheap and payment is made either by pre-purchase of tickets at street-side kiosks (~0,30EUR/~0,65EUR) or to the vehicle driver (but this is more expensive, (~0,65EUR/~0,96EUR) - tickets must then be validated using machines on the vehicle. The Tallinn Card is a way of pre-paying for local transport. The local tourist office sells the "Tallinn Card" which gives the holder free local public transport and entry to most attractions. Although the economics of this may be marginal, it is convenient to use. Local walking tours offer short-cuts to understanding the city.
Airport is about 4 kilometres from Raekoja plats (Town Hall square); there's a local bus connection between the airport and the edge of the city centre (bus no. 2). Several airlines
(eg, easyJet, Estonian Air, Finnair, KLM, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Air Baltic and SAS) operate between Tallinn and European cities.
Railway: The Edelaraudtee railway company operates train services from Tallinn to Tartu, Valga, Türi, Viljandi, Tapa, Narva, Orava, and Pärnu. This is good and chap what to visit other Estonia citys.
But let go back to harbow, where I was still standing and looking all the other fellow finnish, some had quite bad hangover and look was not nices ever. So there I was with my high heels and cabin bag ready to book in hotel cause I have been eating dinner in hotel and now wanted to try rooms as well... and go to manicure ( Everytime I go to Tallinn I pre-book beauty session for me cause prices are much cheaper there than back in Finland.) I step out from Terminal, there was some cars waiting out side and I was not very sure are they taxis or just private cars. So here we go...closer look show that they really where taxis. (cars where old and didnt look very safe...). Me and my friend greet driver " Tere" (Hello in Estonia language) and then we manage to ask him to drive us to hotel just using finnish. Neather us dont speak estonia, but in Tallinn you manage using finnish and english. AND that good!!! Ok we where sitting in taxi, and I still was little bit on my toes..about this drive, but after 10 min drive I paid, only 5 € and found my self in Old Town front of Hotel Schlossie. Dating back as far as the 13th century, the old section of Tallinn is what keeps most visitors occupied during their stay. The winding, cobbled streets of the medieval capital take you past half-hidden lanes, courtyards, spired churches and old, merchant houses. For centuries, what's now the Old Town has been divided into two distinct parts: Toompea Hill, which was home to the gentry that lorded over the countryside, and Lower Town, which was a separate political entity with rights as an autonomous town. Hotel was in stone building with huge wooden doors and nice fires each side of it was welcoming me. And this old style continue. My room was one of other 23 room what hotel has. Room was beautiful. I had Standard double room. It cost little pit over 200€ per night, very expencive!!!! In room there was direct dial/ISDN-lines with phone,minibar, safe,Colour television and pay-TV, Very luxury en-suite bathroom and floor heating and I found even personal scale in bathroom, funny!!! Hairdryer, and bathrobe ( there is something about rooms where you got own barhrope, I LOVE IT). My room was non-smoking room and hotel also got non-allergic rooms. My room was face to Courtyard. I start unbacking my bag, when I found truser press. I put all my make up top of beautiful white writing desk. And start get my self ready for first night in town before that I read small book about hotel. As I said there was 24 rooms, looks like I was not even near luxcury yet...I could get more by booking Schlössle Suite: Lavishly designed suite comprises of a total 90 sqm, incorporating a large living room separated in dining and relaxing area. The bedroom features among a king-size bed some real treasures from a time gone by. The largest bathroom in the hotel features Jacuzzi and 'rainforest' style shower, as well as special Molton Brown amenities. Modern elements such as Loewe television and Bose sound and home entertainment system provide the finishing touch to this spectacular room. But getting that room you need to pay whoping 950€ per night!! So I need to be happy in my "low" budget room.
Hotel had: 24 hour room service, laundry and valet service, Baby-sitting,Doctor on call (hmmm...not in hotel, I think...),Non-smoking floor,complimentary daily newspapers, Connecting rooms, extra beds,In-room fax machines available Limousine service (ooohh that would be nice to try),WIFI Internet connection in reception area and private Sauna and Massage service available.(aaaaawwww)
Soon (well after nearly 2 hrs) I was ready for dinner. I met my friend in hotels famous The Steinhus reataurant. Restaurant it self has become famous in Tallinn for its intimate atmosphere of 13th century vaulted ceilings and the huge roaring log fireplace. I have been dining there couple times and it every penny worth. Dine is
Pictures of Hotel Schlossle, Tallinn
Winter view
elegantly tapestried rooms, by candlelight and enjoy the city's best rated culinary choices. Traditional breakfasts and imaginative meals, served with grace and flair, make this the best rated restaurant in Tallinn. During the summer, you can enjoy the courtyard garden for lunch and dinner, and ideal setting for reminiscing on the day. But where where starting our first night (this trips) in Tallinn and we had plan to stay in Old Town and see what it had offer to us. In restaurant we had full meal. I had Green Salad with Gruyere Cheese and Tomato Vinegar (250.00 EEK / 15.97 €) for starter. Salad was right side and lovely I cant wait my main what was Beef "Qualite de Charolais" with Pepper Crust and Creamy Potatoes (525.00 EEK / 33.55 €.). Well it was pepper steak with fancy name and huge bill, but it was lovely. Potatoes was bit too creamy for me, or maybe it was wine... We had white wine with starter and house red with main. I was full but who can say no for Hot Chocolate Cake with Kumquat Ice Cream (170.00 EEK / 10.86 €) O'la laa...what a dessert. Staff in restaurant was very frendly and professional. After huge meal I was ready to go to bed, but no..we still got at least one stop to do. I step out. Old town was very busy, it was late night but there was lot of peoples going it's many restaurant and bars and wine cellars, what what we where looking for as well. We found our self later in KOLME NÄOGA MEES wine cellar. They got wine shop in ground floor and when you step down with deep stone steps to cellar front of you it cosy and lovely wine cellar with LOTS of bottles and small tables, there is small rooms with only one table fit in so you can have private space as well. At evenings it very busy. You can taste wine's by glasess. Glass's are huge and with extra is lot of candles on every where. After few lovely glass of wine we call it off and head back to hotel.Next morning we had early wake up, we had lovely traditional with international mix breakfast added paracetamol, lol. I had my beauty session booked from Tiia Ilusalong. Salong is situated heart of city central (address: Estonia pst 1/3). Full manicure with parafine and nail polish is around 300EEK and its so relaxing. My manicure took over 1 and half hour because there was so much massage and different oil treatments with it. AWWWW....so wonderful feeling after treatment. And what my hands can do better after it than hand over more money in many shops around city. There are plenty of opportunities to spend money shopping in Tallinn. Old Town is literally lined with dozens of souvenir, antique and speciality stores, not to mention clothing and footwear.I bourgh kids wool shirt in bargan price from old town and table cloft. Within Old Town the main shopping streets are Viru, Müürivahe, Suur-Karja, Väike-Karja and Kullassepa. Most central shopping centre is Viru Centre (Viru väljak 4) holding also Kaubamaja department store (Gonsiori 2). Kaubamaja and Stockmann (Liivalaia 53) offer everything from electronics to cosmetics as well as large clothing sections for women, men and children. Tallinn's largest shopping centre is located in Kristiine and is aptly named the Kriistine Centre (Endla 46). Here you will find basically everything that is for sale in Tallinn, along with a couple of cafés, restaurants and a large supermarket. Other smaller centres include the Melon Centre (Estonia 2) and De La Gardie (Viru 13/15) but these mainly stock clothes.
There is lot of museums as well. Try The Museum of Occupation and of the Fight for Freedom in address: Toompea 8.In the period from 1940 to 1991, Estonia was occupied briefly by Nazi Germany and then for four and a half decades by the USSR. The history of this difficult period comes to life in this modern museum on the edge of Old Town. High-tech audio-visual displays and art installations add life to the museum's artefacts and texts. Admission 10kr.
or Patarei Prison in address: Suur-Patarei. This imposing, seaside complex in the Kalamaja district is now one of the best places in the world to catch a glimpse of Soviet-era prison life in all its dreariness. Originally opened as a sea fortress in 1840, it housed inmates from 1919 until 2004, and has been left virtually untouched since. Visitors can explore the hallways to see cells, work areas, exercise yards and the like. For the full experience, it's best to arrange a group tour. Admission 25kr.
Must see the tops of medieval Tallinn - Town Fortifications:With 46 towers, medieval Tallinn was known as 'one of the most fortified burgs in all Northern Europe'. Today 1.85km of the original city wall and 20 towers survive.Three of the oldest, Nunne, Sauna and Kuldjala, are open to the public, entrance at this spot. Admission 10kr. You can found it in : Gümnaasiumi 3
And best way to see all Tallinn is Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour with right red, London-style double-decker buses to take tourists on several different routes through Tallinn. There's a Red Line covering the town centre and Kadriorg, a Green Line connecting to Pirita, the TV Tower and the Botanic gardens, and a Blue Line that takes you to the Estonian Open Air Museum. Information for each location is provided in ten languages by Audioguide (see above), and riders can hop on and off at any stop. One-day ticket 250kr; two-day ticket 300kr. AND it FREE with the Tallinn Card.
I really enjoy my two days in Tallinn and highly recommet it to all who what do shopping in one of best and still bargain citys in Europe.I love hotel Schlossle because its unique, old style and high standards of room and food. Only minus during my stay was that hotel was situated pit noisy street and noise from street during night was...well not very nice but I slept like princess in my huge soft bed!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This seems to me to be at least as much about Tallinn in general as about the hotel, but that suits me since I shall be visiting Tallinn in the summer and staying elsewhere. Thanks for some useful tips. Duncan
A unique and truly intimate atmosphere greets you as you step accross the threshold of the ... more
luxurious Hotel Schlossle Hotel Schlossle is located at the center of Tallinns medieval Old Town Only steps away from the historic Town Hall Square and Shopping...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
very helpful by (100%):
